..Presented at the 40th Anniversary Celebration of the Center for Perinatal Biology of Loma Linda University School of Medicine, honoring Dr. Longo for his 40 years of extraordinary leadership and service, February 11, 2013. ..

..Of vital importance, a more complete understanding of these mechanisms promises hope for improved strategies for therapeutic intervention and clinical management of intensive care of the premature newborn. ..

Ovine middle cerebral artery characterization and quantification of ultrastructure and other features: changes with development

..We conclude that in fetal and adult ovine cerebral arteries, alpha(2)-AR appear to be chiefly prejunctional. Nonetheless, the fetal cerebral arteries appear to have a significant component of postjunctional alpha(2)-AR...

..Chronic hypoxia suppresses uterine artery sensitivity to cortisol, which may play an important role in the adaptation of uterine vascular tone and blood flow in response to chronic stress of hypoxia during pregnancy...

..In addition, despite differences in several variables, the fetus at high altitude showed evidence of successful acclimatization, supporting the hypothesis that such fetuses demonstrate no compromise in cerebral oxygenation...

..The greater cerebral myogenic response in P14 compared with adult MCA appears to be due to greater pressure-induced increases in [Ca(2+)](i), rather than enhanced augmentation of myofilament calcium sensitivity...

..In response to hypercapnia in high-altitude, acclimatized, long-term hypoxic fetal sheep, the response of CBF and cerebral oxygenation did not differ significantly from that of low-altitude controls...

Maturation and the role of PKC-mediated contractility in ovine cerebral arteries

..In addition to highlighting independent regulation of various elements of the signal transduction cascade, the studies demonstrate the potential for LTH to program the fetus for cerebrovascular and other disease as an adult...

..Hypercapnia favored cerebral tissue oxygenation of the fetal brain; and cortical tPo2 and sagittal sinus [HbO2] complement or support one another as indices of cerebral oxygenation under hypercapnic conditions...

..In addition, ERK1/2-dependent phosphorylation of caldesmon(Ser789) was not necessary for PDBu-induced contraction and appears not to be involved in the reversal of caldesmon's inhibitory effect on actin-myosin ATPase...

Expression of several cytoskeletal proteins in ovine cerebral arteries: developmental and functional considerations

..In addition, the relatively constant expression levels of alpha-actin and cyclophilin A with development, suggest that these are useful internal standards for studies of cytosolic protein expression...

Regulation of alpha1-adrenoceptor-mediated contractions of uterine arteries by PKC: effect of pregnancy

..For the normoxic fetus, CBF was closely related to ECoG state, but this association was less evident during acute hypoxia. We speculate that, in the otherwise stressed fetus, acute hypoxia may further compromise cerebral oxygenation...

Absence of robust ischemic preconditioning by five 1-minute total umbilical cord occlusions in fetal sheep

..e., the calcium set points) at 0 mV were 8.8 and 4.7 microM for adult and fetal myocytes, respectively. Thus the increased BKCa current density in fetal myocytes appears to result from a lower calcium set point...

Gene expression in the placenta: maternal stress and epigenetic responses

..In addition, these findings suggest that the functional stoichiometry of CAPAKs varies significantly during development and that such variation may be a hitherto unrecognized mechanism of ion channel regulation...

Development affects in vitro vascular tone and calcium sensitivity in ovine cerebral arteries

..The risk of late fetal or neonatal death from increased Hb(CO) from diffusion testing is considerably less than the risk of death from all causes reported by the Centers for Disease Control, and is therefore considered "minimal risk"...

Role of epidermal growth factor receptor in ovine fetal pulmonary vascular remodeling following exposure to high altitude long-term hypoxia

..These findings suggest that increased PAF-R protein expression and increased PAF binding contribute to pulmonary vascular remodeling in these animals and may predispose them to persistent pulmonary hypertension after birth...